U.S. Deports Terrorism Convict It Had Sought to Hold Indefinitely

This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it had deported a stateless Palestinian man who had completed a terrorism-related prison sentence, averting a legal showdown over whether the federal government has the authority in some cases to indefinitely detain a noncitizen.

The man, Adham A. Hassoun, 58, was sent to an unidentified country on Tuesday, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Buffalo, N.Y., and his lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz, a senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Mr. Hassoun is thrilled to be finally free after 17 months of illegal detention and is looking forward to resuming his life,” said Mr. Hafetz.

Mr. Hafetz said his client’s location was being kept secret under a court protective order but called his deportation “a victory for the rule of law.” He said that Mr. Hassoun’s lawyers learned of his release in an “ecstatic” phone call from him.